?<strong>Chapter 141:</strong>


    The jovial atmosphere at the table quickly dissipated. Smiles vanished, and an ufortable silence took over. No one dared to utter another word.


    Leaning back, Kristopher fixed Sammy with a piercing look, his mouth curling into a wry half-smile. “Is this your idea of professionalism?” he asked, his tone cold and sharp.


    Sammy’s face flushed with a mix of shame and forced indignation. “Our projects are serious and legitimate,” he retorted defensively. “We would never engage in underhanded activities. Should anyone attempt such a thing, I’d be the first to intervene!”


    Then, turning back to Kristopher, Sammy’s expression softened into a fawning grin. “Mr. Norris, please understand, these men are just rugged, straightforward types; they spend their days on construction sites and aren’t refined in their manners. After a couple of drinks, their mouths run wild, tossing out jokes without hesitation. Please forgive their blunt nature,” Sammy said.


    Quickly grasping their mistake, the others chimed in with apologies. “Indeed, Mr. Norris, please overlook our coarse ways. We’re simple people, unrefined by much schooling, and our words have inadvertently upset you. We’ll make up for it by downing three sses ourselves!”


    With augh, even those previously silent grabbed their sses, filled them to the brim with potent liquor, and gulped them down, their eyes turning a shade redder with each swallow.


    Kristopher responded with detached indifference. He waited a beat, then casually reached for his cup of tea, savoring a deliberate, tiny sip.


    It was only after this pause that the atmosphere rxed, and the gathering continued their meal andughter, but in a more subdued manner than before.


    Meanwhile, Aspyn, slightly tipsy herself, saw her regard for Kristopher soar, fueled by the alcohol and her vivid imagination. What a dashing, prosperous, and honorable gentleman he was. She knew she couldn’t let this chance slip through her fingers.


    Kristopher’s mood shifted so abruptly that Sammy thought it best not to bring up the nned drinking session, and dinner concluded quickly, with everyone retreating to their rooms for the night.


    Secluded in his room, Kristopher copsed onto the sofa, his fingers trembling slightly as he uncapped a bottle of ice-cold mineral water he’d snagged from the fridge. He gulped it down eagerly, the fabric of his shirt cor loose and fluttering with each breath.


    As the water cascaded down his throat, it did little to cool the burning mix of alcohol and heat radiating through his body, intensifying his inner turmoil. Images of Carrie by the serene Jade Lake infiltrated his thoughts, her figure crystallizing from the misty memories of the day into a vivid, haunting presence. Her skin appeared ethereal in the soft light, her limbs sculpted and elegant.


    His mind then snapped to a more unsettling memory: Carrie in the bathroom, her bare skin exposed, her eyes wide with shock. That vision struck him with startling rity and an unnerving power.


    Kristopher was no novice in matters of attraction; he had effortlessly dismissed the flirtations of a bikini-d beauty queen, a former pageant star, without a second thought. Yet, the idental encounter with Carrie, vulnerable and unguarded, had triggered a raw, visceral reaction within him. It was as though a dormant switch had been flipped, sensitizing him to even the slightest provocation.


    While he grappled with whether his feelings for Carrie were born of love or mere physical desire, he couldn’t ignore the maic pull he felt towards her.


    As he sat there, the richness of the evening’s feast seemed to fuel his body’s unbidden responses. His thoughts drifted to tales from his youth, recounted by friends who spoke of simr awakenings driven by their first encounters with passion. Could this intense stirring be his own dyed explosion of youthful desires, now ferventlying to life?


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